Best PlacesPennwyn, PA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Pennwyn, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. This page is for people who live here or already know they want to. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Pennwyn ranks 7,157th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on cell coverage by a wide margin, and property taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Pennwyn
BestNeighborhood is the only ranking that scores 40 measures of daily life neighborhood by neighborhood and lets you re-weight every one of them yourself.
Pennwyn's strengths and weaknesses
Where Pennwyn ranks high
- Cell coverageBetter than 99% of towns
- TransitBetter than 97% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than 96% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than 96% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 94% of towns
Where Pennwyn ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 4% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 59 pleasant days a year, better than only 7% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than only 19% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 27% of towns
- Cheap childcare$948 a month, better than only 30% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Pennwyn
A household needs to earn about $109,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Pennwyn home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $70,502, so buying stretches a typical household.
Where the monthly payment goes
Assumes a 20% down payment, a 6.6% 30-year fixed rate, and a 28% share of income going to the payment. The rate is the 2026-07-23 30-year fixed average, series MORTGAGE30US from the St. Louis Fed, which publishes Freddie Mac's weekly survey. Against the median home value, property tax uses Pennwyn's effective rate of 1.84%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Pennwyn
Pennwyn's age mix sits close to the national median, and households here run larger than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Pennwyn.
Who works in Pennwyn, and how
Work in Pennwyn centers on education and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 71%
- Work from home 27%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Pennwyn
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Pennwyn.
What the weather is like in Pennwyn, month by month
Pennwyn sees roughly 59 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 43, with lows near 24. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 43° | 33° | 24° |
| April | 67° | 54° | 42° |
| July | 90° | 78° | 67° |
| October | 71° | 58° | 47° |
Flying in and out of Pennwyn
The nearest airport, Lancaster, is about 20 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Philadelphia International, about 48 miles away.
The best schools in and around Pennwyn
Schools across Pennwyn average a B, better than 66% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Brecknock El SchA− · 57% proficient
Top middle schools
- Intermediate SchC · 34% proficient
Top high schools
- Governor Mifflin ShsB · 48% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Pennwyn school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Pennwyn measure by measure
Cards are ordered by how much each measure matters to you, so the ones you weighted highest come first. Expand to see every measure. Percentages compare Pennwyn against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Pennwyn
Is Pennwyn a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Pennwyn ranks 7,157th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on cell coverage, transit, and an educated workforce, and lowest on property taxes and the weather. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Pennwyn expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $363,500. The overall cost of living runs about 7% below the national average. Set against a $70,502 median income, cost of living beats 47% of towns.
Is Pennwyn safe?
Yes, Pennwyn is safer than 91% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $150 per resident a year.
Compare Pennwyn with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Pennwyn. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Pennwyn represents the same real quantity as a 60 anywhere else, and the ranking is a weighted average of those absolutes. The map colors come from a national scale calibrated against a population weighted random sample of 5,000 neighborhoods. That absolute scoring is what no other places-to-live ranking does: it puts a single neighborhood, a town, a metro, and a state on one scale, so the same 40 measures answer both which metro to move to and which street inside it to buy on. Read the full methodology.
Pennwyn detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Pennwyn: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Pennwyn: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Pennwyn: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Pennwyn: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Pennwyn detail on related sites:
- CrimeGrade: neighborhood crime rates behind the crime safety score.
- ISPreports.org: provider by provider internet availability and advertised speeds.
- CoverageWatch: the car insurance premiums behind the cheap car insurance score.
Federal and public data:
- U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey: income, home value, rent, vacancy, commute time and mode, educational attainment, home age, age structure, household type, industry, and race.
- NOAA Global Surface Summary of the Day: the daily station record behind the monthly temperatures and the pleasant-day count.
- FAA Passenger Boarding Data: airport size and annual passenger counts.
- Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey: the 30-year fixed rate used in the cost-to-buy estimate.
- FBI Crime Data Explorer: reported offenses behind the tangible crime cost estimate.
- U.S. EPA Air Quality System: five year average air quality index.
- FEMA National Risk Index: expected annual loss from natural hazards.
- CDC PLACES: disease burden, preventable risk, and barriers to care.
- National Center for Education Statistics: school enrollment and assessment inputs behind the school grade.
- FCC National Broadband Map: internet and wireless availability.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: employment and job growth behind the local economy score.
- Religious activity uses a proprietary religious signal measurement.
Your priorities
Move a slider to say how much a measure matters. Zero turns it off.